The reason I decided to pre-order my new iPhone from Verizon and not Apple

I've been planning for months to pre-order Apple's newest line of
phones come September 2015. So when
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus line I
jumped at the chance to get the phone as quick as I could.

But like many people, my cell phone plan is incredibly
complicated. I'm a Verizon customer and have been beyond confused
about the situation I'm in since Verizon did away with contracts
and the "Edge" program I was on.

To remedy this confusion, I spent an hour on the phone with
Verizon during preorder weekend. And while the full answer is
still a bit beyond my understanding, and specific to my
situation, the takeaway is important: Verizon was still
my best choice for upgrading my phone, and NOT Apple's highly
touted new
iPhone Upgrade Plan.

I would recommend everyone call their current provider and get
the lowdown once and for all about which option is actually best
for them. The truth is you just can't get enough personalized
information by simply reading up on the specifics of each plan.

For me specifically, I was dealing with being on an old
Verizon plan that basically no longer exists.

It is (was) called the "Edge" plan. On that plan I could upgrade
my phone for free every year as long as I'd paid off a certain
percentage of the phone. In effect, I was leasing the thing
each year.

When I called Verizon they told me that plan had now sort of
transformed into something not-so-sexily called the "Device
Payment Program."

I was told two key things when I was on the phone with customer
service that made me decide for sure that taking part in Apple's
new program was a bad idea.

To upgrade my phone I had to pay my current device
off in full through installments or lump sum. So to
get a new phone every year, the whole thing would have to be
paid off. Despite the fact that Verizon
is saying this plan is the same as the Edge plan, this is
what I was told over the phone and jives with the above blurb.
Under the Edge plan, I only had to pay for a percentage of the
phone as I understood it. To upgrade every year, clearly
selling the phone back to Verizon through a promotion or on
eBay/Gazelle/etc. then getting a new one made the most sense.

I would lose a crucial $25 credit. The plan I
was on before gave me a $25 credit towards my bill every month
because of the amount of data I had (10GB). If I chose not
to use the Device Payment Program, I would lose that credit. So
if I was adding a monthly payment to Apple on top of my monthly
expenses along with a heftier cell phone bill, I would be
paying a lot more per month for essentially the same thing.

When you factor in those 2 things, it's pretty clear that I had
no choice at all here. I preordered my gold iPhone 6S Plus
through Verizon and I'll be sticking with the carrier for
the future until plans change again.

As I said before, everyone's sitaution is different. We all have
different plans that have been impacted in all sorts of
weird ways as a result of the ever-changing cell plans of the big
providers out there. So make that phone call and ask every
question you can think of. You may come to a different conclusion
than me.